THE APPEAL TO BE HEARD AND THE TROPE OF LISTENING IN CLASSIC FILM AND AFRICAN ...

261 Pages·2013·25.26 MB·English

by  Christine Kolakoski

THE APPEAL TO BE HEARD AND THE TROPE OF LISTENING IN CLASSIC
FILM AND AFRICAN AMERICAN LITERATURE

by

Mike Kolakoski

__________________________
Copyright © Mike Kolakoski 2013

A Dissertation Submitted to the Faculty of the

DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH

In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements

For the Degree of

DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY

In the Graduate College

THE UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA

2013
2

THE UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA
GRADUATE COLLEGE

As members of the Dissertation Committee, we certify that we have read the dissertation
prepared by Mike Kolakoski, titled The Appeal to be Heard and the Trope of Listening in
Classic Film and African American Literature and recommend that it be accepted as
fulfilling the dissertation requirement for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy.

Date: May 8, 1013
_______________________________________________________________________
Charles Scruggs

Date: May 8, 2013
_______________________________________________________________________
Susan White

Date: May 8, 2013
_______________________________________________________________________
Lynda Zwinger

Final approval and acceptance of this dissertation is contingent upon the candidate’s
submission of the final copies of the dissertation to the Graduate College.

I hereby certify that I have read this dissertation prepared under my direction and
recommend that it be accepted as fulfilling the dissertation requirement.

________________________________________________ Date: May 8, 2013
Dissertation Director: Charles Scruggs
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STATEMENT
 BY
 AUTHOR

This
 dissertation
 has
 been
 submitted
 in
 partial
 fulfillment
 of
 the

requirements
 for
 an
 advanced
 degree
 at
 the
 University
 of
 Arizona
 and
 is
 deposited

in
 the
 University
 Library
 to
 be
 made
 available
 to
 borrowers
 under
 rules
 of
 the

Library.

Brief
 quotations
 from
 this
 dissertation
 are
 allowable
 without
 special

permission,
 provided
 that
 an
 accurate
 acknowledgement
 of
 the
 source
 is
 made.

Requests
 for
 permission
 for
 extended
 quotation
 from
 or
 reproduction
 of
 this

manuscript
 in
 whole
 or
 in
 part
 may
 be
 granted
 by
 the
 copyright
 holder.

SIGNED:
 Mike
 Kolakoski
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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
I would like to thank the faculty and staff at the University of Arizona’s
Department of English—in particular, Charlie for your ceaseless encouragement, Susan
for your incomparable guidance, Lynda for your selflessness, Meg Lota for your
inspiration “to get things done,” and Marcia for doing all you do. I would also like to
acknowledge my gratitude for the David L. Patrick Dissertation Fellowship, which
helped fund my research and writing.
And, of course, I would like to thank my family and friends, without whom I
would be nowhere. Mom and Dad, your moral (and financial) support has been
immeasurable—I can only hope you are half as proud of me as you have made me feel.
Andrea, Laura and Amy, your collegial companionship has sustained me throughout the
dissertation process. My only regret for having the unconditional love and encouragement
of so many family members and friends along the way is that you are too numerous to
mention here all by name. I just hope the cliché is true and trust you know who you are.
To all who have read the many manifestations of my argument presented below
and to those who might take the time in the future to read the final product: may I say—
quite simply but no less genuinely—thank you for listening.
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TABLE OF CONTENTS

LIST OF FIGURES.............................................................................................................7

ABSTRACT........................................................................................................................ 9

INTRODUCTION............................................................................................................ 11

CHAPTER ONE: TO FALL ON DEAF EARS: THE NARRATIVE USE OF SOUND
AND CONSTRUCTIONS OF SUBJECTIVITY IN EARLY TALKING-
PICTURES........................................................................................................................ 26

CHAPTER TWO: LISTENING WITH “A THIRD EAR”: THE RECOGNITION OF
SUBJUGATED VOICES IN ABOLITIONIST RHETORIC AND AFRICAN
AMERICAN DISCOURSE ON CIVIL RIGHTS............................................................ 83

CHAPTER THREE: A RHETORIC OF DEAFNESS AND THE LISTENING SUBJECT
IN RICHARD WRIGHT’S NATIVE SON...................................................................... 131

CHAPTER FOUR: “PAYING FULL ATTENTION TO A PART”: THE TROUBLE
WITH LISTENING IN RICHARD WRIGHT’S A FATHER’S LAW AND ALFRED
HITCHCOCK’S ROPE.................................................................................................. 187
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TABLE OF CONTENTS — Continued

CONCLUSION............................................................................................................... 241
ENDNOTES................................................................................................................... 247
WORKS CITED............................................................................................................. 253
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LIST OF FIGURES

Figure 1 ............................................................................................................................ 35
Figure 2 ............................................................................................................................ 36
Figure 3 ............................................................................................................................ 37
Figure 4 ............................................................................................................................ 39
Figure 5 ............................................................................................................................ 40
Figure 6 ............................................................................................................................ 42
Figure 7 ............................................................................................................................ 42
Figure 8 ............................................................................................................................ 45
Figure 9 ............................................................................................................................ 46
Figure 10 .......................................................................................................................... 46
Figure 11 .......................................................................................................................... 61
Figure 12 .......................................................................................................................... 62
Figure 13 .......................................................................................................................... 62
Figure 14 .......................................................................................................................... 65
Figure 15 .......................................................................................................................... 66
Figure 16 .......................................................................................................................... 70
Figure 17 .......................................................................................................................... 70
Figure 18 .......................................................................................................................... 71
Figure 19 .......................................................................................................................... 74
Figure 20 .......................................................................................................................... 74
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LIST OF FIGURES — Continued
Figure 21 .......................................................................................................................... 76
Figure 22 .......................................................................................................................... 77
Figure 23 .......................................................................................................................... 79
Figure 24 .......................................................................................................................... 79
Figure 25 .......................................................................................................................... 81
Figure 26 .......................................................................................................................... 81
Figure 27 .......................................................................................................................... 85
Figure 28 ........................................................................................................................ 141
Figure 29 ........................................................................................................................ 204
Figure 30 ........................................................................................................................ 206
Figure 31 ........................................................................................................................ 209
Figure 32 ........................................................................................................................ 209
Figure 33 ........................................................................................................................ 215
Figure 34 ........................................................................................................................ 218
Figure 35 ........................................................................................................................ 238
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ABSTRACT

This dissertation analyzes the narrative use of sound, the rhetorical appeal to be
heard and the trope of listening in African American literature as well as Hollywood and
international cinema. Contributing to the burgeoning fields of film sound and listening
studies, Chapter One explores the relationship between the first experiments with
synchronous sound recording technology and the construction of subjectivity along the
lines of ethnicity, religion and gender in early talkies such as Al Jolson’s The Jazz Singer
and Alfred Hitchcock’s Blackmail. Chapter Two surveys a range of abolitionist texts and
select essays from the Civil Rights movement—particularly David Walker’s Appeal to
the Coloured Citizens of the World, Frederick Douglass’s first autobiography Narrative
of the Life and his novella “The Heroic Slave,” W. E. B. Du Bois’s The Souls of Black
Folk and Richard Wright’s White Man, Listen!—in order to review the role of listening
across racial divides in the United States. Chapter Three analyzes the multiple ways in
which listening functions for narrative purposes in Wright’s best-selling novel, Native
Son; and Chapter Four addresses the trouble with listening in Wright’s posthumous novel
A Father’s Law and Hitchcock’s first color film, Rope.
Contributing to film studies, gender studies, and critical race theory, this thesis
argues that the act of listening comes to function figuratively as a trope, signifying not
only a means of recognition, interpellation and subjugation of an Other but also an
instrument of justice; a matter of politics; a means of education; a potential remedy for
alienation, while at the same time working as a tool of oppression; a formative act in
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familial and other social relations; a governing form of surveillance; an audial gaze, so to
speak; a way to frighten, or more generally, evoke emotion; a part of the therapeutic
process; an indication of trust or confidence; a manifestation of (sexual) desire; and, last
but certainly not least, an age old form of entertainment forever transformed by sound
technology of the industrial age.